Ivan Song, 33, won first prize for his manga, Falling Flat Out into Space, in the IMAF category, “One-page Theme Comic” (the theme was “flight”).

Indeed, Song got off to a flying start with that short manga, which took him some four days to complete. It also caught the attention of Ilya. “I had a look at BNM1and didn’t even imagine that I would be in the next volume!” said the freelance website designer. For BNM2, he drew a six-page black-and-white manga named Beat Me – his first published work and a “comedy/action story about doppelgangers,” according to the author. “It feels fantastic to see your work on paper, which looks different from when it’s on the web. There’s some value to it, and there are people around the world reading it,” Song smiled.